Death Sentence
by TheSleepyProducer
Summary: Dr. Jason Bull has a heart attack on the steps of the Federal Courthouse. Will help get to him in time? Based from the Season 2 finale of Bull, what happens after the finale scene. Danny OOC, Mild Language.
1. Chapter 1

Dr. Jason Bull sat in the courtroom next to Benny as the charges against his client, Elliot Miles were dropped. Elliot was a free man! Jason sat with a smile on his face, mostly to cover up the pain he was feeling. Elliot signed to Jason 'you are not alone.' Jason smiled even more and signed right back to him that he was not alone. Jason took a labored breath.

"Are you ok?" Benny leaned forward and asked. "You're as white as a ghost."

"I'm great, man." Jason smiled and nodded his head. "I just need some air and some sleep."

Jason patted Benny on the shoulder.

"Tell Marissa I might not be in today." Jason said breathless "Tell everyone thank you."

He tapped the desk to get his point across.

"They did this." Jason got up and patted Benny's back. "Nice work counselor."

Benny had a huge smile on his face as Jason walked out of the courtroom. They had done the impossible.

Jason walked out of the courtroom proud of himself and his team. But something wasn't right. He was having a hard time breathing as he walked outside. He was hot, too hot for a nice spring day in May. As he walked he was trying to breathe through the pain he was having, feeling like someone was squeezing his heart. He stumbled to the top stair of the federal courthouse because he was getting extremely dizzy. He sat down and unbuttoned his top button on his shirt and undone his tie. The pain in his chest started to take over him as he laid back on the cool concrete. When not one person stopped to ask if he was alright, Jason reached into his suit jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. With great effort, he called 911.

"Hello 911?" Jason said. To his dismay they asked if he would hold. "Yes, I'll hold." Jason rolled his eyes and sighed.

'How am I supposed to hold? I could be dead before anyone gets to me.' Jason thought.

Another pain went through his chest causing his breath to hitch and him to flinch in pain. He saw someone standing over him. It was a little boy.

'Maybe he can get me help?' Jason thought.

"What are you doing?" The young boy asked as he watched Jason struggle to breathe. "Are you taking a nap?"

Jason could barely shake his head as he struggled to breathe. He could hear the young boy's mom call to him.

"Jeremy!" The little boy's mom called, but he stood there watch Jason. "Jeremy, leave the strange man alone."

The boy complied and walked away from Jason. As the boy walked away someone on the other end of the phone finally spoke to Jason.

"Hi…uh…I think I need and ambulance. I think I'm having a heart attack." Jason struggled to say. "I'm at the federal courthouse…right outside." Jason sighed "I promise you'll see me…Absolutely I'm not going any place."

Jason took another labored breath and lowered his phone from his ear onto his chest.

'So, this is it. I'm going to die alone.' Jason thought as his breathing became shallower.

As he laid on the courthouse steps with people walking around him, Jason's eyes lost focus of life, becoming fixed and dilated. He took one more labored breath before his body went limp and he was gone.

Chunk met up with Benny at the defense table to congratulate him on the win. Elliott came over to thank Dr. Bull. He looked with concern and pointed at Jason's chair.

"Yeah where is Dr. Bull? It's not like him to get up and leave before congratulating his client on a win." Chunk pointed out.

"Bull needed some fresh air. He looked like he didn't feel good. He was extremely pale." Benny said.

Chunk stood back crossing his arms thinking for a moment.

"You know come to think of it Bull had been complaining of tingling in his left arm and hand at the office yesterday." Chunk said.

Benny's eyes got wide as he and Chunk put the pieces together.

"You don't think he?" Benny questioned.

"That sounds like a heart attack to me Benny!" Chunk said.

Benny went running out of the courtroom with Chunk hot on his heels. Benny had a gut feeling something was wrong.

'Gosh why didn't I pick up on this before?' Benny thought.

Benny looked around and almost didn't see the older man lying on the top stair with people walking around him.

"Bull!" Benny yelled as he rushed to Jason's side.

People were still stepping over and walking around Jason instead of stopping to help him.

"Can't you see a man is in trouble and you don't even have the decency to stop and see if he needs help?" Benny yelled at passerby's.

He got down on his knees before placing two fingers on Jason's neck to check for a pulse and leaning down to see if Jason was breathing. The image of Jason's eyes being fixed would haunt him.

"My God, Chunk he doesn't have a pulse and he's not breathing!" Benny shouted over his shoulder.

Without giving it a second thought Benny started CPR. He was trying so hard to keep the tears from flowing.

As he did compressions he tried to encourage Jason.

"Come on Bull! Don't you do this to me!" Benny yelled as he got harder with the compressions.

Benny was too in the zone to see the paramedics that were making their way up the steps.

"Sir we need you to step away so we can work on the patient." One paramedic said.

"No! I need to save him!" Benny said as he continued compressions.

"Sir please we will do everything we can…"

"I said NO!" Benny yelled at the paramedic as he kept pounding on Jason's chest.

The paramedic looked up at Chunk and communicated with their eyes. Chunk knew what he had to do and nodded. He wrapped his arms around Benny and tried to pry him away from Jason.

"No, I gotta save him! Let me go!" Benny kicked and screamed before breaking down into tears.

"Do either of you know this man?" One paramedic asked as the other cut away Jason's dress and under shirt to reveal his bare chest and started CPR.

"Yes, he's Dr. Jason Bull. He's actually our boss. He's 45, he had been complaining of numbness in his left arm and was pale in court this morning." Chunk explained.

"Sounds like a heart attack." The paramedic made mention.

"Still no pulse." Her partner said.

"Ok let's go ahead and get him hooked up to the EKG and AED." The paramedic demanded.

Benny and Chunk watched the green flat line as the Paramedics worked on Jason. They watched as the AED delivered shocks to Jason's body causing him to jerk, but to their dismay the green line stayed flat.

It felt like an eternity to Benny as he watched the paramedics work feverously to get Jason back.

"His pupils are fixed and dilated, non-reactive to light. Still no pulse or respirations. It's been about 15 minutes of rounds of CPR and AED." The paramedics looked at each other and sadly shook their heads.

There was no way of knowing how long Jason had been down, but one thing was for sure, Dr. Jason Bull was dead.

As the paramedics were about to call his time of death, Benny begged and pleaded with them.

"Please! You can't give up on him so easy! Please do one more round! Take him to the hospital! Please! Don't let him die." Benny sobbed.

The female paramedic looked at her male counterpart and shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess we can try one more time." She said.

They started the CPR over and pressed the AED to deliver the shock when it was appropriate. Benny's prayers were answered when the flat green line came to life and started showing little green spikes.

"We got him! Let's load him up and get him to the hospital." The paramedic said.

The paramedics quickly loaded Jason onto a gurney and was getting ready to roll when Chunk and Benny noticed Elliott standing back watching in horror.

"Elliott, would you like to ride to the hospital with us?" Chunk offered.

Elliott shook his head and showed his phone to Chunk.

"Of course, we will text you on his condition." Chunk sadly smiled.

Elliott returned the sad smile before heading home. Benny and Chunk followed the ambulance in Jason's car to NYU Medical Center. It was a blessing that Jason had a driver because neither of the guys were mentally stable enough to drive.

"I should have caught the signs." Benny cried. "I saw all the signs Chunk and I just let Bull tell me he was fine. He said he just needed some air and some sleep. I let him walk out of the courtroom and die alone."

Benny became angry with himself. "Damn it Benny why did you do that. I should have told him to sit down and I could have called an ambulance for him, kept an eye on him."

"It's not your fault Benny. We all missed the signs. None of us could have predicted he was going to have a heart attack, little on die on the courthouse steps." Chunk rubbed soothing circles on Benny's back.

"But I should have. I could have prevented this. God, Chunk! I never even got to tell him I was sorry for blowing up on him during the trial." Benny spat.

"You will get that chance. Jason's a fighter! He meets challenges head on and moves passed them. He'll pull through this." Chunk comforted.

"I guess I need to let the girls know what's going on." Benny started to calm down. He was in shock that he found Jason dead.

"That's a good idea. If we didn't and Marissa found out she would kill the both of us!" Chunk chuckled.

Benny dialed Marissa's number. Her cheery voice on the other end of the line was almost heartbreaking.

"Great work today counselor!" Marissa cheered.

Benny paused for a moment before giving her the news.

"Marissa, grab Danny and Cable and meet us at NYU Medical Center." Benny stayed calm enough to get the information over to her.

"Benny, who's being taken there? What's going on?" The worry in Marissa's voice catching the attention of Cable and Danny.

"It's Bull. Apparently, he had a heart attack on the steps of the courthouse." Benny sighed.

"Oh my God! Is he ok?" Marissa asked as the girls gathered around her.

"When Chunk and I found him, he was already gone. But they were able to get him back. We will meet you at the hospital." Benny said before hanging up the phone, he didn't want Marissa to hear the pain in his voice or the tears he was trying to hold back.

"Marissa, what was that about?" Danny asked.

As Marissa grabbed her jacket and made her way to the door she answered. "It's our fearless leader. He apparently had a heart attack after court this morning."

Both Danny and Cable were right behind her as she made her way to the elevator.

Benny and Chunk noticed the ambulance went a little faster and turned on its lights as it got closer to the hospital.

"No, something's has to be wrong or else they wouldn't do that, right?" Benny panicked.

"I am sure it's just to get the cars to move out of their way so they can get Jason to the hospital faster." Chunk reassured.

As they pulled under the emergency room entrance, Benny could see the paramedics running with Jason. The fear started building in him again that something was indeed wrong.

Chunk and Benny walked up to the check in and said they were there for Dr. Jason Bull. The nurse told them to have a seat in the waiting room. And wait they did.

* * *

Jason started crashing as he was brought into the Emergency Room.

"He's coding, grab a crash cart." One of the nurses yelled as another one jumped on the gurney and started compressions. "Let's get him in room 4."

Dr. Graham Jones, the ER doctor, walked in watching the ER nurses work on Jason.

"What have we got?" Dr. Jones asked.

"45-year-old male, possible heart attack, was DOA, got him back after 15 minutes, crashed as we got to the ER." The female paramedic answered.

Dr. Jones looked into Jason's eyes and saw they were still fixed.

"Someone hand me the paddles. Charge to 300, clear!" Dr. Jones demanded as he slapped the paddles against Jason's chest, lifting him off the gurney.

No change

"Charge to 350, clear!" Dr. Jones demanded as he tried again.

Still no heartbeat.

"Charge to 400, Clear!" Dr. Jones tried again, and again still no change.

"Push one of epi and let's charge to 450. Clear!" Dr. Jones demanded as he silently prayed it would work.

He was rewarded with the sweet sound of a weak heartbeat.

"We got him! Let's get him to the Cath Lab! Let's move people! No time to waste."

Dr. Jones walked into the waiting room to pass along the news.

"Family of Jason Bull?" Dr. Jones stated.

The whole TAC team was now in the waiting room patiently waiting for word on Jason.

"We are! How is Dr. Bull?" Danny jumped in and asked, before anyone else had a chance to.

"Well we got him back. He crashed as he was being brought into the ER. We have sent him off to the cath lab to see how much blockage there is. One thing is clear, he did suffer a heart attack." Dr. Jones answered.

"So, what now?" Danny asked, taking over the questioning process like she was interrogating this doctor.

"Depending on the blockage we will either do an angioplasty to clear the blockage or if it's on the more severe side he might have to have open heart surgery." Dr. Jones explained.

"Open heart surgery? Could it really be that bad?" Benny asked.

"We are not sure yet. When I know something, I will send the cardiologist out to talk to you guys about the next step." Dr. Jones answered. "If you guys need anything let me know."

The team thanked him as he walked back into the emergency room.

"It really couldn't be that bad, could it?" Benny asked. He tried to keep himself calm, but was failing miserably.

* * *

In the cath lab things were not on the up and up for Jason. They did a cardiac catheterization to see where the blockages were and how severe.

"How are we looking?" Dr. Alex Wright, the cardiologist asked.

"It doesn't look good doctor. Mr. Bull has 30% blockage in two arteries and 40% in another." The cath lab tech said.

"Ok, I am going to talk to the family. Get Mr. Bull prepped and ready for surgery." Dr. Wright said.

About 20 minutes since the team saw the ER doctor, another doctor came out looking for them.

"Family of Jason Bull?" Dr. Wright asked.

"We are the family of Dr. Bull." Marissa answered.

"You guys need to follow me." Dr. Wright said.

The team exchanged worried looks as they followed Dr. Wright. They were taken to the surgery waiting room, a lot more comfortable chairs and more space than that of the Emergency Room waiting area.

"First off, I'm Dr. Alex Wright and I'm one of the cardiologists working with Dr. Bull. We were hoping to do an angioplasty but there was too much blockage. There's 30% blockage in two arteries and 40% in another." Dr. Wright said before taking a seat on a coffee table in front of the team. "So, there are two things I need to tell you guys. First being, it's a lot worse than we originally thought, Jason suffered a massive heart attack and is lucky to be alive. Second, we are rushing Jason into emergency surgery. If we don't do the surgery, Jason could have another massive heart attack and die. It looks like we will have to do open heart surgery, a triple bypass. Open heart surgery after a heart attack is an emergency and a lifesaving surgery. There's no time to waste. They are back there prepping him now. With that being said it's going to take several hours so settle in and we will take good care of him." Dr. Wright said before shaking the team's hands and heading into the OR.

"Damn, a massive heart attack? I can't believe it!" Chunk said.

"I know I would have never thought Dr. Bull would have let himself go for so long." Cable said.

The team sat silently except for a few sniffles here and there. None of them knew their boss was so bad. They each missed the warning signs. The fact that Jason died at the courthouse weighed heavy on each of their minds. They just hoped they would get the chance to tell Jason they were sorry.


	2. Chapter 2

An hour had passed with no word on how Jason was. The team stayed vigilant in the surgery waiting room. Chunk had texted Elliott to let him know Jason was in surgery. Cable and Danny tried to stay positive and keep the mood light by sharing stories of Jason including how he lost his pants in Calisto. Marissa knew after all this she would need another therapy session. She constantly worried about Jason anyway, but this wasn't helping matters. Benny couldn't get comfortable in the waiting room. Though the chairs were extra soft and reclined into an easy chair, to Benny the chair was as hard as a rock. He needed to know Jason was ok, he needed to know Jason was going to pull through this surgery. He had to apologize for being so rude and not believing him. For yelling at him the way he did. A screen in the waiting room had the names of the people in surgery. It said if they were in pre-op, in surgery or recovery. A wave of fear came over Benny when he saw Jason's name disappear. Before he could make mention of it a voice came over the loud speakers that caught the team's attention.

"Code Blue to the OR, Code Blue to the OR." The page said.

Benny stopped in his tracks.

"No! It can't be?" Benny panicked.

"There's only one way to find out!" Marissa said as she walked over to the nurse's station.

Benny sat down as he could feel the knot in the pit of his stomach come back and the room started to spin.

"Can I help you?" the nurse asked.

"Yes, I just wanted to check on Jason Bull who's in surgery." Marissa asked.

"Yes ma'am. Are you family?" the nurse asked Marissa.

"Yes I am."

"One moment please." The nurse said as she made the call to the surgery suit. "Yes, I am checking in on a Jason Bull…ok…ok thank you."

Marissa looked at the nurse with stern eyes. She wanted answers!

"It appears the code was called to Mr. Bull's operating room. Looks like he's crashing. They are trying everything they can to bring him back." The nurse explained.

Marissa took a deep breath and thanked the nurse. She walked back over to the team who was anxiously awaiting news. Marissa shook her head.

"It doesn't look good guys. Jason's crashing. The code was called to his room. He could have had another massive heart attack on the table and if that's the case he won't pull through." Marissa explained.

"How can you be so damn negative Marissa." Benny stood up, a little too fast for his liking. "He's not dead. He can't be dead! He's not dead until the doctor comes out here and says he is."

Benny's chest tightened even more. He felt like he could collapse at any moment. Chunk saw the fear in Benny's eyes.

"Why don't you sit down Benny." Chunk said as he guided Benny to a chair. He knelt down in front of Benny and took his hands.

"We are all worried about Bull. But getting upset like this and putting yourself at risk of a panic attack is not going to help him. We need to stay calm, for Bull's sake." Chunk said.

Benny nodded as he tried to control his breathing. The tears flowing from his eyes.

"He's gone Chunk. There's no way he could survive a massive heart attack and now crashing on the table. I never got to tell him I'm sorry." Benny cried and started to hyperventilate.

"Benny, breathe." Chunk encouraged.

Benny jumped up from his seat and bowed up at Chunk.

"How am I supposed to breathe when our boss is dying?" Benny said. He turned and punched the wall.

"Easy there Pitbull." Chunk said putting his hands on the smaller man's shoulders. He guided him back to a chair.

Benny hit the wall a little harder than he intended to. He rubbed his hand as they waited. Cable and Danny were mortified. They had never seen this side of Benny before.

A nurse came out into the waiting room about 10 minutes later.

"Family of Jason Bull?" the young nurse asked.

"That would be us." Cable raised her hand.

The nurse made his way over to the small group.

"My name is Adam Clark I am one of the cardiology surgical nurses that has been with Jason during his triple bypass. Everything was going great. Then Jason went into cardiac arrest and we did lose him for a short time. However, our team worked very hard and was able to get him back. The cardiologist is continuing with the surgery. Jason should be in recovery in about 5 hours." Adam said.

"5 hours, is that normal?" Danny asked.

"For a surgery of this much complexity yes. I can assure you Jason is in the best of hands." Adam assured the team. "Now if you excuse me I need to scrub back in. We will call you with updates. I just felt like this news was something you would want to hear in person."

"Thank you, we appreciate it." Marissa said.

The team watched as the nurse walked away. They were in for a long wait. In the span of the 5 hours, Benny couldn't keep his emotions under control. He let go of all the emotions he had been holding back. He glared at Cable and Danny when they would laugh about different things Bull had done over the years. He rolled his eyes at the families that were playing cards, and the families that had a member of their family that was going under the knife for a minor surgery. Jason's was far from minor. Instead it was so major that he still could die. Just the thought of that made him cry even harder.

"He's going to pull through this." Marissa told Benny as she sat down beside him.

"How can you be so sure?" Benny cried.

"Because I know Jason." Marissa assured.

"She's right. Jason's going to pull through this with flying colors." Chunk added.

Benny could hear them talking but couldn't make out what they were saying. His mind shut off and only focused on the fear of losing Bull.

Chunk noticed something strange while sitting in the waiting room. As the surgeries would finish, the surgeons would come out, sit down with the family, and tell them how the procedure went. There were several families that had come and gone since the team was moved to the surgery waiting room. But they hadn't heard any more on Bull, though it was getting to the six-hour mark.

"Family of Jason Bull, the surgeon would like to meet with you out in the hallway." Nurse Adam announced.

The team gave each other worried looks. Was this doctor going to break it to them that Jason didn't pull through and didn't want everyone else in the waiting room to see the team breakdown?

Benny leaned up against the wall trying his hardest not to pass out. The girls clung to each other as they waited on the news. Chunk was there ready to be the open arms and the shoulder to cry on if Bull didn't make it.

"Family of Jason Bull?" A woman about 5'4 asked, getting a nod from the team members. "My name is Dr. Addison Newton. I'm the cardiothoracic surgeon who performed Dr. Bull's surgery."

Benny took in the sight of Dr. Newton. She had her hair pulled back and under a scrub cap. She had on green surgical scrubs, which to his dismay looked soiled with blood, Jason's blood.

"Where's Dr. Wright?" Marissa asked.

"Dr. Wright is with Jason right now in recovery. I was the head surgeon but Dr. Wright was there to assist." Dr. Newton explained.

"How is Jason?" Chunk asked.

"I know Adam came out and gave you all an update earlier but we did lose Jason on the table." Just hearing those words made Benny fall apart.  
"Unfortunately, he was down for a good 10 minutes before we could get his heart beating again. Unlike with CPR and AED, since we had Jason's chest open we did a heart massage and shocked the heart with internal paddles. We weren't willing to give up on him and were able to bring him back. With that being said, plus how long he was down before he was brought into the hospital, he might have brain damage from no oxygen to the brain." Dr. Newton broke explained.

"So, you are saying Dr. Bull could be brain dead?" Cable asked trying to hold it together.

"There's a possibility but highly unlikely. We will be running an EEG on his brain to find out for sure." Dr. Newton said.

"What caused him to crash on the table?" Chunk questioned.

"His heart started having something called an arrhythmia it's an irregular heartbeat. It's a malfunction of the heart's electrical system. His heart started beating entirely too fast and then the heart stopped altogether. We will be putting him on medication to make sure that doesn't happen to him again. His heart is already weakened from the massive heart attack and the surgery, he doesn't need one more thing like that added to his plate." Dr. Newton said. "I will have Dr. Wright come talk to you when Jason is moved to ICU. In the meantime, you can go into the ICU waiting room."

The team followed the surgeon to the waiting room to settle in till they could receive more news on their fearless leader.

It was another hour before Dr. Wright came out to visit with the team. He looked worn out, nothing like the perky doctor he was earlier in the day before taking Jason into surgery.

"How is he doc?" Chunk asked.

"Well I have good news and bad news. The good news is he survived the surgery. He's in an ICU room now. The bad news is he's not breathing on his own. We tried to wean him off the vent and bring him around but every time we tried he would stop breathing altogether. I wanted to prepare you guys, Jason is on life support." Dr. Wright explained.

"Life support? Does this mean we will be faced with the decision of pulling the plug on Bull?" Benny worried.

"On the contrary. We ran an EEG and Jason still has very strong brain waves." Dr. Wright spoke. "He should be coming around anytime now and I have a good feeling when he does he will start breathing on his own."

"Are there any complications we need to be aware of?" Marissa asked, wanting to try and prepare herself.

"As with any surgery there are always the risk of complications. He could start bleeding, have heart arrhythmias, some memory loss, trouble focusing, infection of the surgical incision and of course theirs the risk of blood clots." Dr. Wright broke it down.

"With the risk of blood clots, does that mean he is at risk of a stroke as well?" Marissa questioned.

"There is that possibility. But we have him on medications and are hopeful that it won't happen." Dr. Wright faintly smiled before going serious again. "I do want to warn you, if you see any blood start seeping out from his incision grab a nurse and have them call me right away. If not, Jason could bleed to death."

Benny's breath hitched at the mention of that.

"Can we see him?" Benny asked.

"Of course. I will say you can all go in for about 15 minutes, just to see where his room is and to put your mind at ease that he is ok. After that only one of you can stay with him at a time until he's awake." Dr. Wright laid the ground rules.

The team nodded. They got up and followed Dr. Wright through the secure doors of the ICU.

"I can give you guys the code so you can get back here. We normally only give the code to family. But you guys are more of a family than I have seen a lot of biological families be." Dr. Wright smiled.

The team walked past several rooms that had big glass windows. Many of the rooms had the curtains drawn to where you couldn't see in. Others had the curtains drawn back so you could see the patient. Benny shuddered when he saw nurses pulling a sheet over a patient's face in one room. He prayed the same fate wouldn't happen to Jason.

"Here we are. If you have any questions or concerns don't hesitate to have a nurse page me." Dr. Wright shook their hands as the team thanked him.

The team silently filed into Jason's room. Seeing him hooked up to wires and tubes was heartbreaking, but it was better than planning his funeral.

"Hey Dr. Bull, we are here for you." Danny spoke as she patted his arm.

"Yeah Dr. Bull, you aren't getting rid of us that easy." Cable smirked.

"Alright gang. We need to figure out who is staying with him first, since we don't have much time together." Marissa suggested.

"I think it should be Benny." Danny said catching Benny's eye. "You guys are like brothers. If not for you Dr. Bull wouldn't be alive right now."

"Thank you. I would really appreciate that." Benny faintly smiled.

The team stood silently watching the rise and fall of Jason's chest as the machines breathed for him. Chunk pulled back the covers just enough to see the incision site. Thankfully there was no blood, but there was a long incision down the middle of his chest covered with gauze and bandages.

"I was halfway hoping that Dr. Bull had a wild side we didn't know about and had like a chest tattoo." Cable said causing the whole team to look at her strange.

"What like you haven't thought Dr. Bull had a wild streak in his early years?" Cable laughed.

"For some reason, I can't picture Bull getting a tattoo of any kind." Danny commented.

"Oh, come on, one drunken night and he does something stupid like get a full chest tattoo." Cable smirked.

"No instead he kicks a vending machine until he broke it and then gets arrested." Marissa said garnering some strange looks from the team. "But you don't know that." She pointed out.

A young nurse came into the room to check on Jason and to run all but one of the team members out.

"We will be in the waiting room if you need us." Marissa said as she hugged Benny.

Benny brought a chair over closer to Jason's bed. He took in the sight of the man he had come to think of as family. Benny leaned forward and ducked his head. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. As he looked back up at Jason, he felt a wave of guilt wash over him.

"Where do I even begin to say I'm sorry?" Benny cried.


	3. Chapter 3

Benny sat next to Jason and watched the older man. He watched as his chest would rise and fall as the vent forced air into his damaged body. He looked up at the monitors that were keeping track of every heartbeat of a heart that just hours before had stopped. Benny felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. He took Jason's hand in his as he spoke softly.

"Jason, I am so sorry. I should have trusted you when you took Elliott's case. I should have known you wouldn't take a case unless you thought you would be able to help the person. I doubted you. I was rude and hateful to you. You never deserved that." Benny took his free hand and wiped away the tears that were falling. He felt if he said he was sorry and begged for forgiveness, Jason would wake up and be himself, and forgive him. But it was on the contrary. Jason laid perfectly still with the only movement being that of his chest rising and falling.

"I know you're in a coma so I hope the words will reach you somehow and that you can forgive me. Shoot we have been through a lot together Jason, not just work related." Benny paused, leaning back in his chair trying to get his bearings. "The first time I met you was when you were dating my sister. I honestly don't know how you ever put up with her and her controlling ways." Benny slightly chuckled. "I had never seen you smile so widely then the day you guys got married. And then when you guys found out about the baby? I think you were just as excited if not more than Izzy was. I remember you went out and started buying stuff for the nursery. But the miscarriage…it took a toll on Izzy, but took a bigger toll on you. You threw yourself into your work, of course TAC became bigger and stronger but it was out of pain. Pain for something you lost. Then shortly after Izzy filed for the divorce. Don't get me wrong I love the renovations you made to TAC and adding in the relaxation room, but Bull you never used it. Instead you let things get to you. I regret a thousand times for telling you Izzy was getting remarried. I should have known that would crush you. Instead I thought it would give you peace, a feeling that you could finally move on with your life and settle down with someone again. Instead you turned to drinking, not taking care of yourself and look where it got you." Benny paused as he looked at Jason's pale face. It reminded him of early that morning in the courthouse. Memories started to flood Benny's mind and it was all he could do to keep it together and not break down.

"A few weeks ago, Marissa and I were in your office. I saw you rub your chest in pain but I just figured you had heartburn. Never did I think it would have been leading to a massive heart attack." Benny ducked his head and let the tears fall. "I wish you would have told me. We used to be so close that you told me everything. I should have picked up on the signs. Saw you flexing your hands in court, made you stay with me when you were white as a ghost. I should have had you sit back down. Instead I let you walk out and essentially die alone on the steps of the courthouse."

Benny fell apart. There was no more trying to keep his emotions in check. He blamed himself for Jason being in the shape he was in. He could barely make his words heard over his sobbing.

"I am so sorry. This is all my fault. I put a lot of stress on you and your body just couldn't take it. I am so sorry Jason." Benny got up to leave.

He noticed blood coming out from under the bandages that covered Jason's incision. The words of Dr. Wright came to mind _"I do want to warn you, if you see any blood start seeping out from his incision grab a nurse and have them call me right away. If not, Jason could bleed to death."_

Benny watched as more blood seeped from the incision.

"Hang on Jason, I'm not going to let you die. You have already tried to accomplish that three times today." Benny said as he panicked. He quickly found the call button. He looked for more gauze around the room and was attempting to get up in the bed with Jason to try and stop the bleeding.

Knowing the chances of Jason pushing the button himself were very slim, two nurses came running into his ICU room.

"Dr. Bull what can we do to help…Sir what are you doing?" The nurse said as she pulled the curtain back.

"You've got to save him! He's bleeding out!" Benny cried.

One nurse went to Jason's bedside and called Dr. Wright to be paged, while the other struggled to get Benny off the bed without dislodging any of Jason's tubes.

The team's attention was caught when they heard the words "Dr. Wright to ICU STAT!"

"Oh no I hope it's not for Dr. Bull." Cable expressed her concern.

"I'm sure if it was, Benny would be out here to let us know." Marissa tried to keep the team calm even though on the inside, she was freaking out herself!

As Dr. Wright came running in, the nurse was ushering Benny out of the room.

"Mister Colon, we are doing everything we can for Dr. Bull. We will come and let you know how he's doing." The nurse said as she ushered Benny out of ICU and into the waiting room.

The team looked up to see Benny standing there, barely holding it together.

Marissa stood and walked over to him.

"Benny are you ok?" Marissa asked as she guided him to a chair.

Benny shook his head.

"He's bleeding out." Benny whispered.

"Bleeding out, you mean…" Marissa questioned.

"I was sitting there and then there was blood that started pouring from his chest. I hate to admit it, but I think he's dying." Benny hung his head in defeat. He had worked so hard to save Jason, and now here Jason was bleeding out from the incision, from the surgery that was supposed to save him.

The team sat in silence until Dr. Wright came out.

"Hey Bull family." Dr. Wright came to them and sat down on one of the coffee tables.

"How is he Doc?" Chunk asked leaning forward.

"Did we lose him?" Cable asked trying to hold back the tears. She scooted next to Benny who was already in tears himself.

"Well the good news is Jason is still alive. Benny let us know of some bleeding. Thankfully it wasn't as bad as we expected. It was just some oozing around the incision. The nurse gently cleaned the area and replaced the bandage. We will keep an eye on it but oozing like that is not uncommon for someone on blood thinners." Dr. Wright explained.

It was a great relief to the whole team and especially Benny. When the doctor left Benny was ready to go back in and be with Jason. Marissa could tell the day had taken a lot out of Benny. As he went for the ICU entrance, Marissa stopped him.

"Benny wait." Marissa said stopping Benny in his tracks and gave a sleepy but determined look. "Benny, I think you should let one of us go in. You look exhausted and I think it would be better if you got some sleep."

"Seriously? You want me to stay out here? Jason died alone today and you expect me to just sit out here. I don't think so." Benny spat.

"She's right Benny." Chunk added as he moved to stand next to Marissa. "We will keep an eye on Jason for you. If anything changes you will be the first one to go back there."

Benny sighed he knew they were right. He went over to a couch and tried to get comfortable. A sweet nurse came out with a pillow and nice warm blanket for Benny. He curled up in a ball and cried himself to sleep.

The team wasn't sure of who was to go next.

"If it's ok, can I go?" Cable asked.

"I think that is a wonderful idea." Marissa smiled warmly.

Cable tried to get her bearings, she didn't want to cry in front of her boss. She wasn't prepared. She had gone in earlier to see him with the rest of the team, but to stand there, alone with him broke her. To see the man that was her father figure look so helpless made her tears start to fall. Cable wasn't much of an affectionate person expect with Jason. She had given him hugs when he would help her. She stood at his bedside and took in the sight of his pale face. He looked like a ghost of her 'father.' To know he was only being kept alive by machines at the moment was the hardest thought. How could she have been so rude and hateful towards the man that didn't nothing but help her?

She looked at his pale face through her tears as she swiped a stray hair from his forehead. She wanted nothing more than to give him a hug and have Jason tell her everything was going to be alright.

"Dr. Bull, I am so sorry. I know I didn't make things easy on you." Cable sat down on the side of the bed and took Jason's hand in her own. "I never properly thanked you for bailing me out of jail after my friend tricked me into hacking into the FBI server. You were right, I broke the law."

Cable wiped her eyes with her free hand before she could continue, trying to find the strength to keep going.

"The moment I was released from jail, you were there. You bailed me out. It was like my dad had come to my rescue and everything would be normal again. But I was selfish. I should have known after putting your company at risk that I wouldn't have a job at TAC anymore. But instead I acted like a selfish child that didn't get her way. When you fired me all I could see was not having a job anymore, not being able to be around my father figure anymore. I didn't think about your feelings or how it must have hurt you too. I was only thought of me and I am so sorry. I'm sorry I never got to tell you while you were awake how much it meant to me for you to bail me out and then to give me a second chance at TAC." Cable smiled briefly before more thoughts flooded her mind, causing her to cry so hard she could barely speak.

"Dr. Bull I should have known. The day we were sitting in your office I asked if you were ok, you told me you were fine, that your arm had fell asleep and asked me if mine ever did that. I should have known something was wrong. I should have gotten up and gotten Marissa, told her about it and called you an ambulance. Maybe then it wouldn't be as bad as it is now. Maybe then you wouldn't have died on the courthouse steps, maybe then you wouldn't be in this mess." Cable spat through the tears.

"Dad, you have to get better…not just for yourself, not just for the team but for me. Because I don't think I could lose you." Cable leaned down and kissed his forehead before making her way out of Jason's room.

She walked back to the waiting room where the team was. Chunk looked up to see how distraught Cable was. He walked over to her and she collapsed in a fit of sobs in his arms.

"Chunk if you will stay with Cable, I think I will take my turn with Jason now." Marissa said.

Marissa didn't know how she was going to explain to him what was on her mind, but she knew if something was going to happen to Jason, he needed to know.


	4. Chapter 4

Marissa tried to slow her breathing as she made her way back to Jason's ICU room. They had already had too many scares with him dying on the courthouse steps, coding in the ER and during surgery, and not to mention his incision started oozing blood. She had hoped he would be awake by now, but those hopes diminished when she reached his room and found he was still in a coma.

She sat down next to his bed, in the same chair two of her other teammates had already sat in. It was a shame he was too weak to have the whole team in at once, instead resorting to only one at a time.

"Jason there's so much I want to tell you." Marissa started. "I still admire you. Always have always will. You are one of the strongest people I know. Right now, you need to prove that strength a little more and get better."

As if those words were supposed to magically wake him up, she waited. Waited for something that never came. His emerald eyes still hidden behind closed eyelids. She stood and walked over to the window and looked out across New York. She thought of Jason, how he would enjoy this view. He always loved the view from his office. She would catch him looking out across the city, sadly with a glass in his hand. He had really let himself go and she felt as though she should have called him out long before now.

"If you remember the case we were working, Jim Grayson's case. Benny and I stood there in your office and overlooked as you rubbed your chest in pain. I'm not blaming Benny for not catching it. I'm blaming the both of us. We should have caught on and got you help before this ever happened." Marissa explained. She turned to see Jason was still out cold. She returned to the ever faithful "team chair" as she thought of it. She sighed before she decided to get off her chest what she had wanted to tell him but didn't want to tell him. She felt like it would have been better to just write the letter and let Jason find it, come to think of it now, he probably would have had a heart attack in his office had that happened. So instead she sat in his ICU room, hoping that he could hear her and decided to tell him what was in the letter and why she had considered leaving TAC.

"Jason, I wanted to discuss this with you face to face but I couldn't do it. Instead I wrote a letter and put in in your desk drawer. Now I feel like I need to come clean about it. I've been seeing a psychiatrist for the last little while, trying to figure out why I'm not happier than I am. There are, of course, a hundred answers to that question, but clearly one of them is that I've had the terrible ill fortune to have found myself working for someone I adore more than words can describe at an enterprise that gives me more satisfaction than anyone has the right to expect. Sadly, I had come to realize that I am so consumed with you and TAC, that there is very little me left for the rest that life has to offer. I was going to resign Jason, but I couldn't do it. You have changed my life and You're an amazing man, Jason Bull. And if I am tough on you, it is only because I hold you in such high regard that I cannot bear to see you be less than you are capable of. So now Jason I need you to fight. So, you can return to the company in which you created." Marissa said as she wiped her tears. "Thanks for being alive."

Marissa took Jason's cold, limp hand and gave it a bit of a squeeze.

"Get to feeling better Jason. We are all here for you." Marissa said before she turned and walked out of his room.

When Chunk saw Marissa come back into the waiting room he could tell she was trying to be strong, but all of this had taken such a hard toll on each one of the team members. He took her into his arms as she wept. When she was calm enough he let her go back to the team as he went in for his time with Bull.

The moment Chunk walked in a wave of guilt washed over him. The night before he had called Jason a psychopath. Saying that he had the tendencies of a serial killer. He didn't realize the turmoil and pain Jason was going through, or that Jason was on the verge of a massive heart attack.

"Bull I am so sorry." Chunk said as he took a seat next to his boss.

"After all you have done for me, I was extremely rude towards you. I had no right to be. You have given me an amazing job, offered to keep me on at TAC while I go to school to become a lawyer, you got me a scholarship so I could go to school. When my daughter came to town, you allowed me to use your car and driver so I could impress her. All that I took in little regard and instead treated you horribly. When I saw you on the courthouse steps this morning it made my stomach churn. I didn't know if you were dead or alive. The look on your face will forever haunt me. Neither myself or Benny should have allowed you to walk out of that courtroom. For that I am sorry. For everything I am sorry. I hope that you will forgive me. You have truly been amazing." Chunk said. As he raised up out of the chair he patted Jason's leg. "Get to feeling better buddy."

Danny watched as Chunk came out of the ICU. She was the last one to go back and see Jason, and she couldn't be happier. It was time for her to give him a piece of her mind.


	5. Chapter 5

Danny knew from the minute she walked through the ICU doors she was on a mission. It would be best for everyone if she did this. She went in and saw her boss lying still against the white colored sheets. Those sheets almost having more color then he did in his face. She wasn't here for a social visit. She went over and looked at his ventilator. It was too easy. She unplugged the machine before standing back watching as Jason's vitals plummeted, watching the older man gasp for breath.

"You deserve this Dr. Bull. After all the hell, you have put the team through, you deserve to die." Danny whispered into his ear.

Danny smiled an evil grin as his heart rate turned to a flat line. She slipped back out of the room as nurses went running in with a crash cart. She knew he was already gone and she could not be happier. Before returning to the team, she started crying, or faking it to make it believable to the team. She walked in to the waiting room with tears streaming down her face.

"Danny, what's wrong?" Benny asked as he moved to take her in his arms.

"He's gone." Danny cried.

"Gone as in?" Marissa asked holding her breath.

"As in he just died!" Danny spat.

"Oh my word!" Marissa responded.

"How did this happen? I thought he was stable!" Chunk mentioned.

"He was. I don't know what happened." Danny cried.

Cable came back from getting the team coffee to find them in tears.

"No, please tell me he's not…" Cable couldn't finish her thought for it being too painful.

Marissa sadly nodded. "He's gone Cable."

Jason's cardiologist walked out with a police officer shortly after.

"Danny James, you are under arrest for the murder of Dr. Jason Bull." The officer said as he slapped the handcuffs onto Danny's wrist.

"I am sorry but you must be mistaken." Marissa protested. "Danny didn't kill Dr. Bull."

"On the contrary, I'm afraid. She slipped into his room and unplugged his life support, turning off the alarms that would have let the nurses desk know along with turning off the EKG." The doctor explained. "By time we got to him he had been down for too long and we were unable to bring him back."

"Danny, please tell me this isn't true. That you didn't kill doctor Bull!" Cable hoped that this was all just a mistake, a big misunderstanding.

"I did it and I could not be happier." Danny showed a devilish grin.

"I thought we could trust you. Instead I don't ever want to see you again. I hope you rot in hell for what you did." Benny spat. "Get her out of my sight!"

"Ma'am? You can move closer to him. It would help if you tried talking to him." A young nurse pulled Danny out of her daydream.

How could she even think of killing Bull? She was very bitter towards him but she couldn't murder him.

"Yes, thank you." Danny told the nurse as she moved closer to Jason's side.

Danny waited until the room was clear. She didn't figure Jason could hear her while he was in a coma. What she needed to say had to be said even if it fell on deaf ears.

"Dr. Bull?" Danny started, "There's so much I could say to you. But what I will is that you have put this team through hell and back. The whole team is out there in the waiting room crying their eyes out on edge wondering if you're going to survive while you lay here asleep."

Danny decided now would be the perfect time to rip her boss a new one knowing there was nothing he could do about it.

"I have held it in long enough Dr. Bull. It's your fault you're here, no one else. Sure, we might have missed the signs but you deserve it. You deserved that massive heart attack after what you have put us through, especially me." Danny could feel her anger building and she exploded on him just shy of yelling, getting close to his ear so no one else could hear. "I didn't want to get Cable arrested. I thought she was more of a daughter to you than that. But you made me go to the FBI and have her arrested. We begged you to bring her back but oh no you were to egotistical, everything had to be your way. In Eliott's case you wouldn't listen to your team, we could have helped you more. But everything has to be your way. Well guess what? Your way landed you flat on your back with a fucking tube down your throat to keep you alive. Benny should have left you alone and let you die on the courthouse steps."

Danny heard a faster beeping noise and looked up to find Jason's heart rate speeding up.

"If you are going to have another heart attack, do us all a favor and don't come back." Danny spat.

Jason could hear every word she was saying. Her words putting too much stress on his heart, his heart rate going out of control.

"Miss, you need to leave, now!" A nurse said as she rushed into Jason's room.

Danny was pushed out of Jason's room. She watched as the nurse pressed a button and medical personnel flooded Jason's room armed with a crash cart.

"Pulse is at 200, B/P is 210 over 170!" Danny could hear one nurse yell.

She could hear them saying something about adding some kind of medicine into his IV. But what really caught her attention was when she heard the doctor yelling.

"Shit, he's going into v-fib give me the paddles. Charge to 360, clear!" the doctor yelled.

Danny watched as Jason's was lifted off of the hospital bed. Deep down she knew she caused this, but she would never admit it to anyone.

A nurse saw Danny watching and pulled a curtain around so Jason wasn't on display.

"You got what's coming to ya Bull." She whispered as she made her way out of ICU.


	6. Chapter 6

Danny walked out into the waiting room feeling no remorse. She knew that she had just killed her boss. There would be no evidence that she was the one killed him. She felt like that within itself called for a drink.

'The man just had a massive heart attack and open-heart surgery. There were many complications that could have killed him.' Danny thought.

She stepped out into the waiting room and found Benny asleep on a couch. Apparently one of the nurses had gotten him a blanket and pillow. He looked so sweet sleeping like a baby. Marissa had slipped off more than likely to the bathroom. Cable was fighting hard to keep her eyes open as she played a game on her phone as she huddled in the corner of the waiting room near an outlet. Chunk looked up from his fashion magazine and saw Danny step out of the ICU. As she walked closer to him he noticed something off about her, something that none of the other team members had displayed after their time with Bull.

"How's he doing?" Chunk questioned as he patted the seat next to him.

"I guess as well as can be expected for someone that was dead earlier today." Danny sat down beside him.

It was as though she didn't take it serious. Chunk was there at the courthouse and saw Jason's lifeless body on the courthouse steps. It was an image he would not soon forget. But for her to shrug it off as "he was dead earlier" didn't sit well with Chunk.

Marissa returned looking exhausted. It was clear she hadn't gotten any sleep since they had been at the hospital. Marissa sat down across from Chunk and Danny. Before she could ask how Jason was doing, a doctor emerged from the ICU.

"Family of Jason Bull?" The doctor asked.

"How is he?" Marissa asked, worry creeping into her voice. Marissa looked at her watch. A doctor coming to see the family near 11pm never meant good news.

The middle-aged doctor shook his head, he didn't want to have to give the team this news.

"Before you tell us, let us wake the rest of our team up." Marissa said trying to keep her emotions in check.

Danny rolled her eyes. 'why couldn't the doctor just say he was dead so we could all move on with our lives?' Danny thought. 'Let us all be free and not have to worry about the old bastard anymore.'

"Benny, you need to wake up. Something's happened to Jason." Marissa gently shook Benny.

Benny sat straight up at Marissa's words.

"What happened?" Benny cried.

Marissa took a seat on the couch with Benny, rubbing soothing circles on his back with one hand as she held his hand with the other. The doctor moved into the close-knit group and took a seat.

"Jason is critical right now, but stable. We are not sure what happened or what caused it but Jason's blood pressure took a huge spike before he went into v-fib. We were able to shock him and give him medicine, thankfully bringing him back." The doctor explained.

"So, are saying you lost him, that he crashed?" Benny whimpered.

"Briefly, yes. But he is stable now." The doctor answered. "He was on the vent so he never went without oxygen which is a good sign. If he had crashed outside the hospital he could have went without oxygen for a while and had brain damage."

Benny ducked his head. The possibility of Jason still having brain damage. Benny felt guilty because of it. 'If only I hadn't let him walk out of that courtroom, or if I would have followed him, none of this would have happened.' Benny thought.

"Can we…can we see him?" Cable wiped her eyes.

"Not tonight. I think it would be best if Jason didn't have any more visitors. I would like for him to rest and have as little of stress as possible. If he stays stable throughout the night, we can discuss him having visitors in the morning." The doctor explained.

The team thanked the doctor and continued their waiting game for Jason to wake up. Danny felt defeated. She just knew that Bull had met his match, and yet here they were. Still sitting in the waiting room, waiting for him to wake up because he survived another close call. The hours went by slowly in silence with the occasional sniffle here and there. Danny watched as the rest of the team members worried, cried and prayed that Jason would pull through this latest setback.

After an hour, Danny finally had enough of the sniffles and sobs over a man who had been horrible to each of them and deserved to die. She was tired of seeing them so worried and upset over him and finally broke her silence.

"Guys why are you so upset? Bull deserved his massive heart attack. It wasn't like he was trying to take care of himself anyway!" Danny vented.

Each of the team members heads popped up and all eyes were on her as she continued, none of them wanting to say a word as they each tried to process what she had just said.

"So why should we all be so worried about him? It's not like he ever took our feelings or concerns into consideration." Danny spat.

Benny was flabbergasted. How could she say such things about his brother, their boss, and friend? Benny jumped off the couch and went straight over to Danny. Before anyone could stop him, he had Danny pinned up against the wall, his nostrils flaring as he tried hard to hold his temper back and not hit her square in the jaw.

"So, you think Bull deserved to die three times? Did he deserve to die alone?" Benny growled as he let her jacket go and received a shrug from her.

"Bull didn't deserve this Danny." Benny's pitbull side started coming out as he pointed and waved his finger at her. "No one deserves to die like that."

Chunk put a hand on Benny's shoulder to try and calm him down. Danny flinched never seeing this side of Benny. Cable, the person who you would never expect to speak up, came up beside Benny and punched Danny in the face, knocking her to the ground. Before her tears started flowing, Cable spoke.

"You bitch! I don't want to see your face around this hospital or anywhere close to Dr. Bull until you can say something nice regarding him." Cable snickered "After all, Bull hired you when the FBI let you down. He believed in you Danny. But for you to disgrace him like that is uncalled for."

Danny never expected it to be Cable that would take her down. Maybe Benny since he was a bit of a boxer, or Chunk but never Cable.

Marissa nodded "Cable's right. I think it would best for you to go home Danny. Don't come back until you have a better attitude. Lord knows Jason doesn't need any added stress."

Danny grabbed her jacket and shook her head.

"I can't believe you guys. After all the shit Bull has put us through and you still stick up for him." Danny spat before she stormed out of the waiting room.

"Hmm what has gotten into that girl?" Chunk shook his head.

"Nothing good that's for sure." Marissa answered. She pondered on why Danny would have so much anger towards Jason.

The remaining team settled back down into their favorite spots to stay vigil and wait for any news on Jason, hoping the next piece of news would be good. With each of them getting tired, they decided they needed each other's comfort to get through the night. Cable used Chunk as her pillow as he leaned his head back against the wall. While Benny and Marissa shared the couch. In times like this, Marissa needed her best friend for comfort.

The morning sun peeked through the window of the ICU waiting room. The team managed to get some sleep without being interrupted by anymore scares from Jason. Chunk was the first one awake. Waking up to a snoring Cable in his ear and her drool on his shoulder. He was able to lean her up a bit and put her head against the wall. The young woman never so much as flinched at being moved. He then slipped down to get breakfast and coffee for the team. He couldn't help but wonder, why Danny had so much hate for Bull? True at one point he himself had thought Bull had all the traits of a psychopath. But even then, he wouldn't have wished him dead. Chunk paid for the breakfast mostly made of bacon and eggs, with a waffle thrown in on Cables, and headed back upstairs. Marissa was just waking up and was stretching, her hair a mess going in different directions, her eye makeup smeared with traces of mascara tear stains down her cheeks.

"Good morning there sleeping beauty." Chunk smiled as he handed Marissa a coffee.

"Morning Chunk. You're up early!" Marissa yawned.

"Up at the crack of dawn." Chunk smirked. He didn't want to tell her it was Cable's snoring that had woke him up.

Marissa rubbed her eyes withdrawing black on her fingers.

"How bad is it?" She asked looking up at Chunk.

"You wouldn't win any beauty pageants that's for sure." Chunk chuckled. "Looks like you cried yourself to sleep." Chunk withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her.

"Thank you. I would probably scare Benny and Cable away if they saw me like this. Shoot even Bull has never seen me cry." Marissa ducked her head. "Jason is the only man I have ever cried this much over. I would never let him know it though. I would never hear the end of it."

Marissa raised her head and looked at Chunk with tears in her eyes "We can't lose him Chunk."

"And we won't. Bull is too stubborn to let go that easy." Chunk smirked.

"Your right. He can be pretty stubborn." Marissa chuckled.

"How about you go get cleaned up and I will wake the rest of our sleepy crew up." Chunk suggested.

Marissa nodded and headed off to the bathroom.

Cable was easy to wake up, surprisingly. Chunk wafted the cup of coffee under her nose. Opening her eyes, she reached for it before being fully awake.

Benny on the other hand was a different story. Benny needed a sign, 'sleeping pitbull proceed with caution.' Chunk barely shook Benny's shoulder and whispered "Benny."

Benny sat straight up, his eyes wide with fear.

"What happened? Is Jason ok? Did he have another episode?" Benny worried.

"Relax man! Bull is fine. The doctor hasn't informed us of anymore episodes or setbacks. I just thought you would want some coffee and breakfast to start your day." Chunk smiled as he handed the items to Benny.

Benny breathed a sigh of relief and tried to calm his rapid breathing and heart rate. He thankfully took what Chunk had to offer. Marissa made her way back to "base camp" looking a lot better than she had before.

"Alright gang." She spoke "Visiting hours are in about 30 minutes, that is if the doctor determines Bull is strong enough and stable enough to have visitors this morning. Benny, Cable, if he is I think you guys should go in first."

"Ok, but why?" Cable asked.

"Jason would want to hear from his brother and his daughter first thing in the morning, his family." Marissa explained getting a small smile from Cable.

After his rounds, the doctor came out to update the team.

"Jason is stable. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I believe any time now he could start coming out of his coma. I think it would be best if a couple of you went back there and talked to him, encourage him to wake up. Just don't stress him out. If you notice his heart rate starting to elevate, come get myself or one of the nurses." The doctor explained.

Cable looked at Marissa who offered a warm smile. She knew Marissa would want herself and Benny to go back first.

"So, who would like to come back with me?" the doctor asked.

"I would, along with Benny." Cable smiled.

"Very well. Follow me please." The doctor headed to the door with Cable and Benny in tow.

The two team members sanitized their hands before walking into Jason's cold ICU room. Nothing had changed. He was still on life support to Benny's dismay. Jason looked so frail under all the tubes and wires.

Benny sat down in the chair beside the bed while Cable sat down beside Jason on the bed.

"Come on Jason! Open those big green eyes. Tell me how much you love the debate of is a hotdog a sandwich. Or better yet tell me how you are going to give me a raise." Benny smiled getting a chuckle out of Cable.

She took Jason's hand and rubbed the back of it being mindful of the IV.

"Dad, you need to wake up now. You have been sleeping long enough. It's time for you to get up and get back to work, nap time is over." Cable looked at Benny and they shared a smile.

Several minutes passed in silence as they both enjoyed their time being by Jason's side. The steady heartbeat on the monitor a sign that he was stable.

"What I wouldn't give for him to wake up." Cable said.

"I know kid, me too." Benny sighed.

They were both surprised when Jason moved his fingers slightly in Cable's hand.

"Benny, he just moved his fingers!" Cable squealed.

"That's it Jason! You can do it!" Benny encouraged.

Jason's heart rate started to elevate, which caused concern for Benny and Cable.

"Should I go get a nurse?" Cable questioned.

Before she could receive an answer, their attention was brought back to Jason as it looked like he was choking and seizing.

Cable jumped off the bed and went around to Benny wrapped her arms around his neck. A nurse came in and smiled at the two.

"Is he ok?" Cable worried.

"He sure is. He's bucking the vent." The nurse said getting a strange look from the two team members.

"He's trying to breathe on his own! Let me go get the doctor." The nurse said turning on her heels to fetch the doctor.

"Does this mean he will be waking up soon?" Cable asked as Benny stood and took her into his arms.

"I sure hope so." Benny smiled.

Jason blinked his eyes. They seemed so heavy, like he hadn't slept in a week. The light that peered in assaulted his eyes. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was being at the courthouse.

'The courthouse, yes, I felt like I was having a heart attack. But where am I now? Why does my chest hurt so bad? Why the hell can't I talk? And what is this thing in my throat?' Jason's mind was running a mile a minute.

Jason reached up and went to grab at the tube down his throat.

"Whoa, Jason, let's leave that in." Benny quickly grabbed a hold of Jason's hand.

"Hey dad, it's good to see you awake!" Cable smiled as she tried to calm him down, rubbing his arm.

Jason's eyes were filled with fear of the unknown.

"Well good morning Jason. Good to see you have rejoined the land of the living!" Dr. Wright, Jason's cardiologist said.

Dr. Wright checked Jason's vitals and his breathing.

"How would you like to get that tube out of your throat?" Dr. Wright asked.

Jason nodded the best he could.

"Hey Benny, I am going to go tell the rest of the team he's awake." Cable said garnishing a nod from Benny.

Cable came bouncing out into the waiting room excited to share the news.

"He's awake. Bull's awake! They are taking him off life support now!" Cable grinned.

Marissa and Chunk were thrilled with the news that their boss was awake.

"That's wonderful!" Chunk said.

"Let's go back and see him!" Marissa smiled.

As the team was heading back into the ICU, a familiar voice called out to them.

"Hey guys, hold the door." Danny called out in a slurred voice.

The three team members glared at her but not one said a word.

As Danny walked in behind the team, it was obvious that once she had left the hospital, she had gone out drinking. Marissa thought Danny smelled like she had bought the whole liquor store. There was no doubt in Marissa's mind, Danny was drunk.

The team walked in to find Benny feeding Jason ice chips to sooth his sore throat.

"Welcome back Bull." Chunk patted Jason's leg.

Jason smiled at him weakly but that smile quickly faded as he looked across his team and saw Danny standing with them. Fear became evident in his eyes as he became agitated.

"Jason, what's wrong?" Marissa asked as she saw his heart rate starting to raise.

Jason whined and weakly waved to Danny.

"Danny, I think you need to leave." Benny suggested.

"Why? I have just as much right to be here as you guys do!" Danny protested.

Jason whined and moaned a little, the pain in his chest becoming more evident as his heart rate began to skyrocket.

Dr. Wright walked in to see Jason becoming unstable.

"Guys, Jason just woke up from a coma. How about we let him rest for a little bit." Dr. Wright suggested.

The team agreed. Cable, Chunk and Danny went into the waiting room while Benny and Marissa tried their best to calm Jason down enough for him to get some sleep.

Cable and Chunk sat across the room from Danny but never spoke a word.

A few hours later Jason woke up confused about what had happened to him.

"What happened to me?" Jason asked.

"Well it appears you had a massive heart attack on the steps of the courthouse. If not for Benny and Chunk we would be planning your funeral right now. You ended up having to have a triple bypass surgery so you will have a good scar on your chest. You gave us quite the scare crashing during your surgery and last night." Marissa explained.

Jason took everything into consideration rubbing his chest. 'That would explain the soreness.' Jason thought.

He thought of what Marissa said about the night before. He remembered something and he wasn't about to pass on the opportunity.

"I need to talk to Danny." Jason said weakly.

"Jason, are you sure that's a good idea?" Benny asked.

Jason weakly nodded. Benny walked out into the waiting room and rolled his eyes.

"Danny, Bull wants to see you." Benny remarked.

Danny hurried back. Chunk and Cable followed but stood closer to the door going into Jason's room.

Jason pointed at Danny and waved her closer to him. The poor guy didn't have much strength and talking seemed to be wearing him out.

"Yes Dr. Bull?" Danny asked innocently.

"Get out." Jason whispered.

"I'm sorry. What did you just say? You call me back hear and then you want me to get out?" Danny asked shocked.

"You're fired. Get out of my sight." Jason said a tiny bit louder with all the strength he could muster.

"You can't be serious?" Danny yelled.

Jason nodded and whispered "Out!"

Danny rolled her eyes.

"This is unfucking believable. You deserve to die Jason Bull!" Danny yelled.

Marissa grabbed Danny's arm before she could storm out.

"I need your key card. You are no longer a member of TAC. We will have your things shipped to you." Marissa said.

Danny opened her purse and thrusted her key card into Marissa's hand before storming off mumbling how Bull deserved to die.

"Do you care to share with us what that was all about?" Benny questioned.

To Benny's dismay, Jason had fallen back to sleep.

A few hours later, Jason knew his team deserved an answer. After a few more ice chips to wet his throat he explained.

"While I was out I could hear each of you. I am sorry for the way I treated you guys. Thank you for forgiving me and I promise to change. Danny took out her anger on me. She had some very nasty things to say including as you heard, wishing I was dead. I don't know what happened but I could feel my heart racing and then it was like I was floating. I was here but I wasn't here. I guess floating between life and death, not real sure what happened. But, I don't want any of you to give me grief about firing her or you will be looking for a new place of employment as well." Jason explained.

"You have nothing to worry about there. We are here for you and will be there for you every step of the way through your recovery." Benny smiled with the remaining members of the team nodding in agreement.


	7. Chapter 7

For over a week, the team's lives revolved around Dr. Jason Bull who laid in a hospital bed recovering from a heart attack and open-heart surgery. Each would take turns sitting with him, keeping him company. TAC had not taken on any new cases, instead they wanted to wait until the big guy came back to work. Even though Jason was insistent that business should go on as usual, they couldn't bring themselves to build a case without him. They afraid if someone wasn't with him that something would happen and they would lose him. A week after Jason woke up from his coma, Jason was moved to a step-down unit. A week after that, he was being released from the hospital. Never did Bull realize when he walked into court the day of his heart attack that life was going to change so much for him.

The first few weeks were tough. He wasn't allowed to bring his arms up past the level of his chest for the first 6 weeks after his surgery. Benny and Chunk had stayed over at his apartment to try and assist him with the little things. Like getting dressed and showering, which was humiliating to Jason for his team to see him in such a state. Marissa and Cable would bring over dinner for him and make sure he was fed. Each of the team members made sure he took his medicine and was on the right track. But after those six weeks, he forced them to go back to work leaving him all alone.

Jason woke up not knowing what to do with himself. He sent his team back to work so he had no one constantly looking after him, no one to talk to. He went into his bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. What used to be filled with just a couple of bottles of Advil was now filled with medicine with his name on it, all to help keep him alive.

"Let's see what we've got here." Jason mumbled to himself.

He started pulling out the medicines and reading each of them.

"Help's to lower cholesterol. Blood thinners…guess I need to be more careful shaving now. ACE Inhibitor…hmm that's to protect my heart." Jason said before setting each medicine down. "Just wish it could protect me from a broken heart."

Jason still wasn't dealing well with Izzy getting remarried. He would check her social media on an everyday basis. He knew it wasn't healthy to hang on to something that was no longer his but he couldn't help it. She was right. He was no good alone. One night was extremely bad. It was shortly after Izzy's wedding. She had posted all the pictures onto social media. He went through every single photo, finding one of Benny hilarious. You could tell he was none too happy to be there. Something struck him as odd, Benny's plus one was Marissa. The three of them were best friends but deep down it hurt him to know his two best friends went to something that he was never invited to. To torture himself even more, he went to his bedroom and found a huge album. Of course, to go through this one, he would need a stiff drink. He knew he shouldn't but he went and poured himself a glass of bourbon before sitting down on the bed. He opened the album to find his and Izzy's wedding pictures. In one picture Benny was standing next to him. Benny had been his best man. Had it not been for Izzy, he would have never met the amazing Benjamin Colon. He flipped through the many pages all the while drinking his bourbon. Towards the back of the book was something he wasn't expecting. He hadn't looked at this album in years and had forget this had been added. He slipped out the picture of an ultrasound. The photo had been edited to say, "Baby Bull." Jason could feel the tears that fell down his cheeks. He made no effort to try and wipe them away. He missed the life he had once had. He felt like his brush with death was giving him a second chance at life. He just had no idea how he was going to live it.

The next morning, he realized that drinking his sorrows probably wasn't the best idea as he awoke to a splitting migraine. He knew if he was going to make his second chance at life better than the life he had been living just prior to the heart attack, he would need to make some major changes. He first started with the bottle of bourbon on his night stand. He quickly picked it up and threw it in the trash. He had found the paperwork from the hospital which said he needed to start a low fat, low sodium diet. He quickly started researching what he could and couldn't eat along with recipes. Little did anyone at TAC know, but Jason loved to cook and was quite good at it. He had lost weight while in the hospital but he knew he would have to lose more for his health. Jason started goin for short walks, gradually building up his endurance until he could walk seveal blocks and back home without getting winded. He also ordered a treadmill not only for his apartment, but for the office. He was exhausted by noon and instead of pushing himself, he took a nap on the couch in his living room. The team would text him throughout the day with updates on a case they had been working on. But one thing he felt like he needed to do was cut down on the stress, so he turned his cell phone off before laying down to take a nap.

"Have we heard anything from the big guy?" Benny asked as they tried to build their case.

"Nothing. He hasn't responded to texts. I just called him and he's not answering. Benny what if something's happened to him…?" Marissa worried.

Benny thought for a moment and thought back to finding Jason on the courthouse steps.

"Let me try calling him." Benny said attempting to get a hold of their boss.

"He isn't responding to me either." Chunk chimed in.

"It went straight to voicemail." Benny said as he slipped his phone back into his suit jacket pocket.

"What if he's…?" Cable tried to hold back her tears.

"Now kid…we aren't going to think like that." Benny said trying to calm Cable, and himself.

"Cable can you track his phone?" Marissa asked.

"Sure, give me just a second." Cable said as she quickly went to work typing on her computer. "I got it! He's still at home."

"That's it! I'm going to check on him." Benny said as he rushed to the elevator.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Marissa said running to catch up.

As they neared his door, Benny's had a knot in his stomach ... one that said something was wrong. What if they got in there and Jason had had another heart attack? What if he couldn't take the stress of living a healthier lifestyle and killed himself? The what ifs went on and on until Marissa's voice cut through the fog.

"Are you coming in with me or not?" Marissa asked opening Jason's door with her key and stepping inside the apartment.

Marissa started looking around and found the empty bottle of bourbon in the trash.

"Oh my God. Benny look!" Marissa holding up the empty bottle.

"Oh Jason." Benny shook his head. He really thought Jason could get a handle on things and leave the alcohol alone.

Benny walked into the living room and found Jason lying on the couch.

"Marissa, I found him." Benny said, waving her over.

"Is he?" Marissa asked trying to keep her composure as she rushed over to him.

Benny's fingers flew to Jason's neck and felt for a pulse all the while watching to see if his chest would rise and fall.

Benny let out a sigh of relief. "He's still alive."

Jason's eyes flew open and it startled not only himself but Benny and Marissa as well, eliciting a scream from all three of them.

"What are you trying to do? Give me another heart attack?" Jason asked his hand flying to his chest, he could feel his heart racing.

"We thought you might have been dead." Marissa said after catching her breath.

"Well I could be after you two scaring me like that." Jason sat up on the couch.

"We were working on a case and wanted your advice. So, we called and texted you, but you wouldn't answer." Benny explained.

"Did you not stop to realize that I might have been asleep? That I might have been trying to cut down on my stress levels?" Jason snapped at his friend.

"Nothing's changed, has it? You almost die and I worked my ass off trying to get your heart pumping again and all you can think about is yourself. A little common courtesy would have been to at least have your phone on or tell us that you were taking a us a quick text to say you were going to sleep would have avoided all of this!" Benny ripped into Jason.

It came out of nowhere. Jason wasn't expecting Pitbull Benny to be released on him.

"That's enough from the both of you." Marissa tried to de-escalate the situation. "Jason, we are all worried about you and don't want to lose you. At least give us a heads up when you are planning to get some sleep."

"He got sleepy from all that bourbon he drank." Benny spat.

Jason cocked his head. "How did you…?"

"You left the evidence in your trash can!" Benny huffed.

Jason thought for a minute. "Oh, I know what you are talking about. Yes, last night I will admit, I did have a glass of bourbon. But this morning I realized I couldn't keep doing this, torturing myself like that. So, I poured the rest of it out and threw the bottle away."

"So, you're not drunk?" Marissa questioned.

"No." Jason smiled, proud of himself.

"Ok well just turn on your cell phone and we will let you get some rest." Marissa said before nudging Benny towards the door.

"Thank you." Jason replied with a yawn.

In the hallway Benny was a little ticked off.

"We had been calling and texting him to get his opinion on the case, now we are leaving without even asking?" Benny questioned.

"In time, he will come around. Until then we don't stress him out." Marissa answered as they started down the hallway.

After Benny and Marissa had left, Jason turned on his phone to find all the messages and calls he had missed. He knew going back to the office would be stressful. He grabbed his computer. There was one more thing he wanted to accomplish before he returned to work and he knew it would shock the team when he did.


	8. Chapter 8

Today was the day! Jason Bull was finally returning to work after surviving his heart attack that had changed him. He knew he would be walking into a different team. Marissa had informed him that she had hired someone she knew to replace Danny. Though she wasn't former FBI or any type of investigator, she used to work for Homeland Security and Marissa thought she would be a good asset to the team. The team waited for Bull's arrival, outside of the elevator. As the doors opened Jason's team along with all the other TAC employees started clapping which at first scared Jason.

"Are you guys trying to give me another heart attack?" Jason laughed.

"It's so good to have you back!" Cable said wrapping her arms around Jason's neck and hugging him tightly.

"It's good to be back." Jason smiled.

A whimper could then be heard from an oversized bag Jason was carrying.

"Jason, what was that noise?" Marissa questioned as she came over to hug him as well.

About that time, a cute little German Shepherd puppy stuck its head out.

"Guys I want you to meet my puppy." Jason said as he got the little pup out. "This is Rocky."

"You…you got a dog?" Benny questioned. That was the last thing he ever expected Bull to do.

"Yes, I figured he would help keep me active. Rocky will be staying here at the office anytime I am here so welcome him to the team." Jason smiled. "He's going to be paid in Milk Bones though."

The team followed Jason to his office as he sat up Rocky's cage and bed behind his desk.

"Jason, I would like you to meet Danny's replacement, Taylor Rentzel." Marissa introduced the new coworker standing beside her.

The mention of Danny's name sent shivers down Jason's spine. He still couldn't believe she wanted him dead. He straightened up and stuck his hand out.

"Pleasure to meet you Ms. Rentzel." Jason said.

"The pleasure is all mine Dr. Bull. Cable has really been showing me around the computers." Taylor said.

"Yeah Dr. Bull, just think, having two techies around we can solve anything!" Cable smiled.

"Ok guys, Dr. Bull has been away from work for 12 weeks now, let's not burden him too much." Benny said as he helped get all of the team out of Jason's office so that Bull could get himself and his dog settled in.

It was a challenge for Jason to potty train a puppy while being in the office. Not to mention a teething Rocky tried to chew up Jason's adored couch. After Jason found some chew toys that Rocky loved, things started to settle down. The team loved Rocky. He was a great stress relief. No matter where Jason would go, Rocky was like his little shadow and would follow him around the office.

After a while Rocky was quiet. The team would forget he was even there unless they saw him following Jason around. That is until one day a few weeks after Jason returned to work.

"Here's your mail, Dr. Bull." Chunk said handing the mail over to Jason.

"Thanks Chunk." Jason nodded.

The team was out in the war room waiting patiently for Jason to join them to go over what their next case would be when they started hearing Rocky barking nonstop.

"That's a little unusual. Rocky never barks." Cable said, seeming alarmed.

"You're absolutely right Cable. I will be right back." Marissa said, going into Jason's office.

Marissa found Rocky pacing the floor and barking, almost like he was trying to get help for his owner. Jason was sitting behind his desk. He was pale and struggling to breathe.

"Benny can you come here for a moment!" Marissa yelled.

Benny put down his coffee. "Be back in a second."

Cable couldn't help but laugh at her own thoughts. 'Is he telling the team or his coffee he will be back.'

Benny walked in, took one look at Jason and knew he needed medical attention. Benny stuck his head out of Jason's office door.

"Taylor, call 911 now!" Benny yelled.

This caught the team's attention and all of them had a look of sheer panic on their faces.

"What do I tell them is wrong?" Taylor questioned.

"I think he's having another heart attack." Benny said as he quickly headed back in to Jason.

Taylor, Chunk and Cable followed Benny into Jason's office. Cable was able to get Rocky unwillingly away from Jason and tried to calm the poor pup down.

"Can't…breathe…" Jason whispered with his hand over his heart just before passing out. He fell forward, but thankfully Benny and Marissa lowered his head onto his desk so he didn't wake up to a headache.

"It's ok Jason, help is on the way." Marissa rubbed his back.

Every image of Jason dying on the courthouse steps came flooding back to Benny. He couldn't go through that again. Benny felt for a pulse. It was for sure there.

"His pulse is way too high." Benny said. In the back of his mind he was just thankful for a pulse.

Chunk noticed that Jason was reading his mail before having the attack.

"Marissa, what was he reading?" Chunk questioned garnishing the attention of the team.

She reached and pulled the letter out of Jason's hands.

"It looks like some kind of letter." Marissa said.

As she read the letter she fully understood why this would cause Jason to react the way he did.

"Oh my God!" Marissa whispered.

"What is it Marissa?" Benny asked.

"This letter…it's from Danny." Marissa said.

"Danny? What business does she have sending Jason a letter?" Benny fumed.

Marissa took a deep breath before she continued. "She's telling Jason that he will pay for what he did to her. She says she will take down TAC at all costs and that she's coming for him."

"Taking down TAC…that could mean spreading untrue things about us…" Chunk said.

"Or worse…putting a bomb in the office. She was here for the last explosion." Cable mentioned.

"Wait you guys have been bombed before?" Taylor's eyes went wide with panic.

"Yeah a couple years back. A mirror juror tried to get their point across. She nearly shot Bull too." Cable explained.

"Not what I signed up for Marissa." Taylor gave a stern look at her friend.

"I know; just bear with me. We are not letting Danny anywhere near TAC or Bull." Marissa said.

When the paramedics arrived, they slipped an oxygen mask over Jason's nose and mouth as they also took a set of vitals and ran an EKG strip. His heart rate started stabilizing and his breathing becoming more even and normal. He started coming around. Rocky broke free from Cable and ran to his owner. He started nudging and licking Jason's hand.

"Hey…Rocky!" Jason whispered.

"Thankfully it's not a heart attack. We think it was just a panic attack. Is there anything that could have set it off?" The paramedic asked after looking at the EKG strip, which showed some changes consistent with an old heart attack but no acute changes.

"I think I know exactly what set it off." Marissa said holding up the letter.

After the paramedics determined Jason did not need to be transported to the ER and left, the team turned their attention back to the letter.

"Bull we need to talk…you need to get a restraining order against Danny." Chunk said looking Jason in the eyes with a scowl on his face.


	9. Chapter 9

A few days after the letter was sent, Marissa got a phone call.

"Hello? NO under no circumstances is she allowed up to TAC, around Dr. Bull or even in the building. I had her credentials pulled for a reason." Marissa huffed.

Once she was off the phone Benny gave her a shocked look.

"What was that all about?" Benny asked.

"That was security. Apparently, Danny was downstairs saying she was here to pick up her stuff from her desk. Where are we with that restraining order?" Marissa asked.

"Should be able to get it done today." Benny smiled.

"Good. Whatever you do, don't tell Bull that Danny was here." Marissa instructed.

"We don't tell Bull what Marissa?" Jason slipped up behind her, his eyebrow raised questioningly.

"We don't tell you how amazing you are or else your head might get bigger." Marissa joked with a smile.

"Yeah like it could get any bigger. Have you seen this man's ego?" Chunk chuckled as he joined the team in the war room.

"Very funny Chunk." Bull smirked.

After the restraining order was in place, Danny would continue to send threatening letters. The team took the letters very seriously. Jason and Benny were not allowed to go to court unless they had a security guard with them. Jason wanted protection for the girls and especially Taylor since she had a little boy. He hired security to escort the girls home and stay with them just in case Danny came after them.

As time went on, the letters came less and less frequently until one day they stopped all together. The team started to relax thinking it was just empty threats on Danny's part and she had now given up since they didn't react to her threats.

 **ONE YEAR LATER**

Things within TAC had changed. There were no more bodyguards following the team's every move. Things had gone back to a somewhat normal pattern. That is... except for some. Benny had turned into a miniature Jason. He spent most of his nights throwing himself into cases, sleeping at TAC and doing nothing but living for work. One night Jason finally opened his eyes to the fact that Benny had no life outside of TAC.

Jason walked out into the war room to find Benny hard at work on a case. Benny took a sip of his coffee, trying to stay awake. He was too immersed in writing his opening statement that he had no idea Jason was anywhere around.

"Benny?" Jason softly said, coming up behind the attorney.

Benny jumped, nearly spilling coffee all over his notes.

"Geez Bull, you scared me." Benny said making sure everything was alright from the near disaster.

"Go home Benny." Jason said laying a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I have way too much work to do and we go to trial in the morning…" Benny rambled.

"I'm not asking you. Seriously Benny, go home and get some sleep. I'm about to head home with Rocky myself." Jason said with a tired, sad smile.

Benny finally gave in and packed up his stuff. "I'll see you bright and early in the morning."

Benny knew he should have listened to Jason and went home, but he figured he could rest better where he was going. He softly knocked on the apartment door. Marissa answered wearing her silk robe.

"Benny?" Marissa asked, "It's one in the morning!"

"I know. Jason sent me home, but I didn't want to be alone." Benny sadly smiled.

"Well by all means come in." Marissa smiled.

The next morning, Benny had a new refreshing glow about him. Jason knew sending Benny home to get some rest would do him good.

 **3 MONTHS LATER**

"All I'm saying is you need to talk to Bull." Marissa begged Benny.

"I don't know how he would take it. The fact is I am looking at a new position... one that would mean the world to me, but I love it here at TAC. TAC is Bull's baby and I'm like the fun and crazy uncle. I think this new position would just about kill Bull if he knew." Benny ducked his head.

"You need to talk to him. I promise he will understand." Marissa placed her hands on Benny's shoulders.

"You're right as always Rissa. I will discuss it with him over lunch today." Benny smiled.

"Good!" Marissa smirked, "Let me know how it goes."

The guys wrapped up their morning in court and were ready for lunch.

"What shall it be for lunch today counselor? Italian, Chinese?" Jason asked, his stomach protesting loudly about the need for food.

"Actually, since it's such a pretty day, I thought we could walk down to the bistro down the street." Benny suggested.

"Sounds perfect to me." Jason smiled.

As they started down the steps, Benny's mind was racing. How was he going to tell Bull?

The guys reached the sidewalk in front of the courthouse and started towards the bistro when all hell broke loose. Benny at first thought it was a car backfiring; until his mind registered it was actually gun shots. He looked down at his side to realize he had been grazed and was bleeding. As his mind became a little clearer, he realized Jason was no longer standing beside him. He turned around to find Jason lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to his left shoulder.

Benny quickly took off his suit jacket and placed it against Jason's shoulder.

"Stay with me Bull, help's on the way." Benny said as he pressed firmly against the bullet wound. There was so much blood. Jason bled more now since he was put on blood thinners after his heart attack.

"Jason, can you hear me?" Benny asked trying to keep Jason awake.

"Benny, you're bleeding." Jason said as he noticed the younger man's side.

"It's a flesh wound, I'll be fine. My focus is on you." A smile ghosted Benny's lips.

Truth was Benny didn't really feel the pain. His adrenaline was taking over in the moment. Benny continued to worry as Jason was losing a lot of blood quickly.

Among all of the confusion and people fleeing in fear after hearing the gunfire, a young woman came over to Benny and Jason. Benny was relieved at first to have help.

"You should have left him alone Benny." Danny hissed, pointing the gun at Benny.

She fired her gun, shooting Benny point blank in the chest. The younger man collapsed to the ground right next to Bull.

Benny lay on the cold concrete with his life flashing before his eyes. He had trouble breathing as his vision began to gray out.

Jason tried with all his might to call out to Benny. Danny kicked Jason in his left shoulder and then spit on him before trying to sneak away.

Thankfully she didn't get far, as an NYPD officer caught her. He had witnessed the second shot she took at Benny.

Jason watched from the ground as everything felt like it was in slow motion. With blurry eyes, he watched as Danny was arrested, placed in handcuffs and read her rights before being lead away by an officer. He turned his head to find Benny had collapsed.

"Benny" Jason whispered before he fell into the darkness.


	10. Chapter 10

"I need some medics over here!" an officer said as he checked Benny and Jason for a pulse.

Thankfully there was a pulse on both guys but it was getting thready on Benny. As the officer looked for identification, he found a business card in Jason's jacket.

"Dr. Jason Bull, Trial Scientist, TAC." The officer whispered. He then found Benny's business card as well that read _Benjamin Colon Attorney at Law, TAC._

The officer took out his phone and called the number for TAC, as the paramedics came over to work on the two guys.

"TAC how may I help you?" Cable's cheery voice answered.

"I'm Officer Chris Heath with NYPD." The officer said.

"Marissa, you might want to take this. It's the NYPD." Cable announced garnishing the attention of the group, the cheeriness in her voice gone.

Cable handed the phone over to Marissa and the small group waited to find out what was going on. As the phone call went on, Marissa went pale and began to shake. Cable knew whatever she was being told was bad news by that reaction.

It was all Marissa could do to hang up the phone and keep it together to tell the rest of the team what was going on.

"What did they say?" Chunk asked.

"Bull and Benny were shot outside the courthouse." Marissa sobbed, her voice shaky. "It doesn't look good."

"What?!" Cable exclaimed.

"You can't be serious?! First a heart attack on the courthouse steps now this?" Chunk added.

"Did they catch the shooter?" Taylor asked.

Marissa nodded. "It was Danny."

The group collectively gasped.

"I…I need to get to the hospital." Marissa stammered.

"We are coming with you!" Taylor said as she was grabbing her purse.

The ride to the hospital was made in silence. Why would Danny want Jason dead so badly, and why take Benny down too? Marissa sniffled as they got closer to the hospital. This couldn't be happening. Once they reached the hospital, the team went to the front desk to find out the fate of their coworkers.

"Can I help you?" A receptionist asked.

"Two of our coworkers were brought in just a little bit ago. Benjamin Colon and Jason Bull." Marissa's voice shook.

The receptionist typed in their names. A grim look came across her face.

"If you would like to have a seat in the emergency room waiting area, a doctor will be out with you shortly." The receptionist offered a sad smile.

"Is it just me or does she know something bad and she's not telling us?" Taylor asked as they walked to the waiting area.

"I am sure it's just a privacy thing. We know the guys were shot, just don't know their conditions. Only a doctor can give us that information." Marissa said trying to sound confident…holding out hope that both would be alright.

The team sat down in the waiting area, hoping and praying that both Jason and Benny would be alright. After what seemed like forever, two doctors walked out with a tired looks on their faces.

"I am looking for the families of Benjamin Colon and Jason Bull?" The doctor announced.

People in the waiting area looked around and noticed the team stand up to meet the doctors.

"We are here for both of them." Chunk said.

"How are they?" Cable questioned.

"Are you family of both patients?" The doctor asked.

"We are the closest thing to family you are going to get. Now answer the question, how are they?" Marissa snapped, shocking the rest of the team.

"Alright then. My name is Dr. Zac Higgins I was working on Jason Bull." Dr. Higgins said.

"And I am Dr. Eleanor Adams, I was the one working on Benjamin Colon." Dr. Adams explained.

"I will go first. Jason came in with a gunshot wound to the right shoulder. It was a through and through. We cleaned out the wound and stitched it closed. He will need some rehab regain strength in that arm. Taking a look at his medical history and seeing that he was on blood thinners, that is what caused him to lose quite a bit of blood. We are giving him blood right now, some pain meds and he is resting comfortably. He should be good to go as soon as the blood transfusion is done." Dr. Higgins explained.

"And Benny?" Marissa whispered.

Dr. Adams took a deep breath. "Benjamin Colon was in worse shape when he arrived in the ER. We took him into one of the trauma bays. He was shot in the chest."

"Oh God!" Marissa gasped as she covered her mouth and leaned against Chunk for support.

"The bullet lodged into his right lung. As soon as we had him stable enough, we sent him for surgery. It should be a while but we will send him to the ICU after he is out of surgery. You guys can wait up in the surgery waiting room if you would like." Dr. Adams said.

"Can I sit down here with Dr. Bull? I am sure he would like to see a familiar face when he wakes up." Cable suggested.

"Of course. Right this way." Dr. Higgins led Cable to Jason's room.

"If you would excuse me for a moment." Marissa ran down the hall to the closest bathroom she could find.

She barely made it inside before she threw up into a trash can. How could Benny be in such bad shape? Danny had never threatened Benny. She was after Jason. Why would she shoot Benny in the chest and Jason in the shoulder? The thought made her that much sicker. Marissa came out of the bathroom looking pale.

"Hey there." Chunk took Marissa in his arms. He looked at her pale face, afraid that she could pass out. "Does Bull know about Benny?"

"I'm sure he doesn't, not yet. In time, we will tell him. I want him to be more alert when he finds out." Marissa said as she wiped her tears.

"Come on, let's go wait for Benny." Chunk said giving her shoulders a squeeze, leading her to the surgical waiting room.


	11. Chapter 11

Jason opened his heavy eyes to see a blurry image beside him. He could hear a steady beeping sound. 'Did I have another heart attack?'was Jason 's first thought before his memory started coming back to him. He and Benny were walking to lunch... Benny was right beside him one minute and the next he was on top of Jason. But why? He tried to move his arm only to have a shooting pain go through it.

"Whoa there, Dad. Easy." Cable said putting her hand on his the minute she realized he was awake.

She dug his glasses out of a small sack that one of the nurses had given to her.

"Thank you, Cable, you're the best daughter I could ever ask for." Jason smirked, causing Cable to blush. "Why am I here? Did I have another heart attack?"

"You don't remember what happened?" Cable asked.

Jason shook his head. He wanted to come back with a smartass remark but was far too exhausted.

Cable took a deep breath before she told him.

"You were shot in the right shoulder. But it's ok, it was just a through and through. They cleaned it out and stitched it closed. You did lose a lot of blood thanks to the blood thinners but they gave you a blood transfusion." Cable told him.

After hearing that he had been shot the memories started coming back to him and he remembered seeing Danny with a gun.

"What about Benny? Is he ok?" Jason choked out.

Cable sighed before answering. Before she got the words out, a doctor saved her by entering the room to speak to Jason.

"Dr. Bull , you are free to go. Let's unhook you from these IV's. Here are some prescriptions for pain medication and antibiotics. And here are your discharge papers. Rehab will call you in the morning to set you up with therapy for that arm." The resident smiled. "Will you be driving him home or will you guys be joining the team upstairs?"

"Cable, what does he mean by 'joining the team upstairs'?" Jason panicked.

Again, before Cable could answer, the doctor jumped in to give information.

"Hasn't anyone told you yet?" the resident asked.

"If they had, I wouldn't be asking Doc." Jason said.

There was the witty side of Jason that Cable knew and loved.

"Your friend Benjamin Colon was brought in with you. He was in worse shape than you were, he had been shot in the chest. The bullet had lodged in his lung. He's up in surgery right now. Since you were his emergency contact and seeing as how you are on pain meds, we had to call an Isabella Colon. Is Isabella or Benjamin any kin to Bella Colon because I love her products." The resident was way too happy for the grim situation.

"Yes, Izzy and Bella are the same person. And she's also my ex-wife." Jason rolled his eyes.

"Ooh I bet that is interesting working with your ex-brother-in-law." The resident laughed.

Jason was to his wits end. "Can you please just take me up to the surgery waiting room already?"

"Of course, and feel better." The resident said helping Jason into a wheelchair.

Cable took the handles of the wheelchair and began to push him before the young resident had a chance to follow them upstairs.

The elevator ride was silent. Neither one wanted to talk about the possibility of something happening to Benny. Cable rolled him off the elevator and over to the surgical waiting room. The sight of Jason's arm in a sling made Marissa cry again.

"How are feeling Dr. Bull?" Taylor asked.

"Better but it might be the drugs talking." Jason smirked before his face fell somber. "How's Benny?"

"He's been in surgery now for three hours. So far, he's holding his own. They said it could be two or three more hours before they are done." Marissa updated him. "In the meantime, Bull, you need to go home and rest."

"But I want to wait here with you guys." Jason pouted.

"Jason, you need to rest. You can't do anything for Benny while he's in surgery. I will call you when Benny is out of the OR." Marissa promised.

"Ok fine." Jason said slouching in defeat.

Marissa worked her way over to Chunk and whispered in his ear. "Can you please go home with him? I don't want him home alone right now. I'm afraid he would stop off somewhere and get drunk on top of the pain medication they gave him."

Chunk smiled "Of course."

After arriving back at Jason's apartment and getting Jason to eat something, Chunk helped get some more pain medication in Jason and helped him lay down. He knew the longer they were at Jason's apartment, the better Benny was doing. Three hours later Chunk received the call from Marissa. He went into Jason's bedroom to tell him the news.


	12. Chapter 12

"How is he? Is he out of surgery?" Jason asked when Chunk woke him up.

Chunk sighed. "They just moved him to ICU. They had to remove a bullet from his lung. Benny's on life support."

"Life support." Jason pondered.

"I am sure it is to give his lungs a rest after going through the trauma they have. Besides, Benny is a fighter. He will be back at TAC in no time." Chunk rubbed Jason's shoulder.

"Can we please go back to the hospital?" Jason asked with tears in his eyes.

"Of course, we can." Chunk sadly smiled.

He helped Jason up and got him into some comfortable slacks, a button-down shirt and a sweater that would put Mr. Rogers to shame. He helped Jason get the sling on before they were heading back to the hospital.

It was late in the evening by time the team was reunited.

"How's he doing?" Jason asked Marissa the moment he saw her.

She was in a light blue sweater that Taylor had brought up for her. She didn't want to leave the hospital, afraid of what might happen.

"He's holding his own. Izzy is in there with him now." Marissa said, trying to soften the blow.

"Izzy…I never even thought to call her and tell her…" Jason said pinching the bridge of his nose. Damn... this was bad.

"It's ok, the hospital was the one to call and tell her. She had to sign off on papers to perform the surgery and then place him on life support." Marissa explained.

Izzy spent the night at her brother's side. She didn't want anyone in there with her. She preferred to be alone with her baby brother. It wasn't until the next morning when Izzy went to get breakfast that a nurse allowed Marissa and Jason in with Benny. Nothing could have prepared Jason for what he saw. Benny was a little guy anyway, but he looked so tiny under the wires and tubes.

"Hey Benny, we are going to get through this together." Jason said taking Benny's hand. "We're a team and we are going to do whatever you need to get well as a team."

Marissa stroked Benny hair. Besides looking as pale as the sheets he lay on, Benny looked peaceful. She leaned down and whispered into Benny's ear.

"Since you didn't get to tell him yesterday, I will." Marissa smiled.

As she went to sit down, all hell broke loose. One minute Benny was stable, his vitals were fine and out of nowhere his heart monitor showed a flat line and the alarms were screaming. Before Jason and Marissa could ask questions, the room was filled with nurses, dropping Benny's bed to be flat and starting CPR on him.

"Please be careful, he just had surgery on his chest after being shot." Marissa cried.

Jason and Marissa were forced from the room but they could hear the nurses talk. Marissa heard talk of pulmonary embolism. If that was what had truly happened, Benny just quietly slipped away as his heart stopped beating due to a blood clot in his pulmonary artery. Marissa and Jason went back out to the waiting room and sat down.

"What are you guys doing back so soon?" Taylor asked, looking nervous.

"Benny…Benny just flatlined in there." Marissa sobbed, leaning against Jason for support.

"He what?" Cable asked in disbelief, sure she had heard Marissa incorrectly.

"One minute he was fine and the next, he was gone." Jason said, trying to keep it together.

"I think I will go grab us some coffee. Benny is a fighter, he will pull through this." Taylor sadly smiled.

Almost 20 minutes later she was back handing out coffee to the team.

"What's the latest?" Taylor asked.

"I don't know. It seems like the doctor has been back there with Benny for hours." Marissa said beginning to worry.

A doctor walked out of the ICU with a grim look on his face.

"Family of Benjamin Colon?" the doctor asked.

"That would be us." Jason answered standing up along with the rest of the team.

Izzy walked into the waiting room rubbing her belly.

"What is it? What's happened?" She questioned as she stood over by Chunk. She couldn't even look at Jason in that moment. This was his fault... damn him!

Marissa was clinging to Jason as though he were her lifeline. He rubbed her back hoping to calm her down.

"Mr. Colon went into cardiac arrest due to the gunshot trauma. We tried everything we could, but Benny didn't make it. He died a hero." The doctor ducked his head, hating to have to deliver this news.

Gasps could be heard from each of the team and from Izzy.

"Oh God, no." Jason said trying to hold back the tears.

"That's awful. I have to see Benny." Marissa said trying to get through the doors to the ICU.

"You can't do that right now." The doctor stopped Marissa. "We are taking him off the machines and then you can see him."

"This is all your fault!" Izzy said beating on Jason's chest.

"Hey!" Jason yelled, trying to get away from the beating his pregnant ex-wife was delivering.

"If Benny hadn't have been with you, then he wouldn't be dead. You killed my baby brother!" Izzy was hysterical.

"Izzy…" Jason tried to touch her shoulder to attempt to calm her down.

"Don't touch me!" Izzy growled. "If he would have listened to me and never went to work for you, he would still be alive. You are the one that should be dead, not him!"

Izzy's rant was cut off by a sharp pain. She had been having pains in her stomach ever since she found out Benny had been shot but just figured it was stress. This was more than stress she found out, as her water broke in the middle of the ICU waiting room.

"Izzy, let me help you. You're in labor." Jason said putting a hand on her back.

"No shit Sherlock." Izzy snapped. "Just get me to labor and delivery."

Chunk got a chair and helped her down into it. He pushed her to the elevator and Jason went with her. Of all days Izzy had to have a baby, it would be the day her baby brother died.


	13. Chapter 13

Jason felt very uncomfortable being in the labor and delivery room with Izzy. He felt like he should leave but also felt like he should stay until her husband arrived so she wasn't alone.

"You're doing great Izzy." Jason said as he wiped her forehead during a contraction.

Thoughts whirled through his mind as he stood there watching Izzy in labor. This is what his life should have been. Had Izzy not have had the miscarriage, he would have been in the delivery room for their baby's birth all those years ago. He would have been the one who should be comforting Izzy during her labor. But instead here he stood still, trying to comfort her as she gave birth to a baby that was not even his. Jason was never so relieved than when Izzy's husband finally arrived.

There was not as much as a "Thank you" passed between the two guys. Her husband just went running over to her and Jason took that as his cue to leave.

The whole day was ripping Jason's heart out. Izzy going into labor added to Jason's grief... remembering their unborn child. This old hurt was added on top of the grief of losing Benny. Jason went outside and broke down in tears. He felt guilty because Benny got shot and died trying to save him. It crushed him that Danny shot Benny. He never expected something like this to ever happen, especially at the courthouse, there were too many police around.

Jason walked back into the waiting room with reddened, swollen eyes. There was no fooling anyone that he had been crying.

"If you would like to come back and see him, you can." A nurse said from the ICU entrance.

Marissa and Jason got up and decided they would go back and spend some time with Benny. Benny looked different from the last time they saw him. He still had the endotrachial tube in as well as the IV lines, but they were no longer connected to anything. There were no machines making noise. It was peaceful and quiet in his room and Benny looked just as peaceful. Marissa put her hand on his chest hoping, praying that she could feel his chest rise and fall or at least feel his heartbeat. But Benny was still. Marissa ran her fingers through his hair and began to cry. Jason helped her down into a chair close to the bed.

"This isn't how we were planning on telling you Bull." Marissa wiped her eyes.

"Tell me what?" Jason asked sitting down beside her.

"Benny was going to take you to lunch and tell you... but that didn't happen. Danny shot you both before you got to have lunch." Marissa looked down at her hands.

Jason took her hand. "What was it that he was going to tell me, Rissa?"

"I'm pregnant Jason."

Jason couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're pregnant?"

"Yeah, 10 weeks. We were going to wait to tell everyone until I was 12 weeks just in case I had a miscarriage. Benny was about to explode waiting to tell you. That's why he was taking you to lunch after court." Marissa cried. "We spent 3 weeks planning our future together. How we were going to move in together, get married, and raise the baby. Benny was so excited about the baby. He was hoping for a little girl and had already started picking names out. One night we had a bit of an argument. He wanted Emily, I suggested Sophia. We finally compromised and decided if it was a girl to name her Emily Sophia Colon. If it's a boy , we were planning on naming him Benjamin Diego."

Jason took Marissa into his arms as they sat beside Benny's body.

"Now you will always have a piece of Benny with you." Jason said as he rubbed her back.

"Jason, I want to put my resignation in at TAC. I feel like the memories will overwhelm me and I won't be able to do my job the way I need to." Marissa cried.

"Don't say that. I can't create my magic without you at TAC helping me run everything." Jason said.

"I just don't know what I'm going to do, being a single mom and working at TAC seems like it will be pretty overwhelming. I know Taylor is a single mom but at least her ex-husband is still alive. The father of my baby…" Marissa began to sob "Is dead."

Marissa laid her head against Jason's chest. He ran his fingers through her hair to comfort her. He tilted her chin up so she could look into his big green eyes.

"I will help you raise the baby. I will be there for you every step of the way." Jason said softly.

"I can't expect you to do that." Marissa looked away.

"But I want to." Jason said. " Benny saved my life. I at least owe it to him to be there for you and the baby."

Marissa gave Benny one final kiss before they walked out of the room together. As Taylor and Cable went to say their goodbyes, Chunk sat next to Marissa to check on her.

"How did Bull take the news about the baby?" Chunk asked.

"Better than expected considering my baby will grow up without a father." Marissa said trying to hold it together.

Chunk was thrown off guard. "What do you mean? Does Bull not want to be a part of the baby's life?"

"Oh no, he does. But the thing is, the baby is Benny's." Marissa sniffled.

"Oh, Marissa I am so sorry." Chunk hugged her.

The team stayed until the funeral home came to pick up Benny's body. Marissa stood in the hospital waiting room, not knowing what to do next.

"Come on Marissa, I'm taking you home." Jason said.

"I don't want to be alone right now." Marissa felt the tears welling up.

"I don't either. You can come to my place and we can break down together after we stop at your place and pick up some things for you." Jason said, putting his good arm around her shoulders.

Against her better judgement and knowing how her boss was, she agreed to go back to his place. Something about all this made her feel like she could trust him and that he just wanted to look after her.


End file.
